Pages

Popular Posts

Happy birthday blog

Date: Nov. 2Mileage: 29.7November mileage: 59.8

It was a strange feeling, dropping away from the base of the ski resort and into a thick fog. Spooky ghost trees and skeletal branches masked the one thing I was really afraid of - ice. I hugged the shoulder in case I needed to bail into the gravel as wheels spun almost silently over wet pavement. Visibility closed in and the ghost trees disappeared, until all I had was a white line, drawing a vague path over the obscured road, buried and surrounded by a great gray kind of nothingness. A layer of frost collected on my black fleece hoodie and tights until I was little more than a shade of gray myself. With the unseen pull of gravity I flew through the cloud, cold tears on my cheeks, frosty mittens clasped on the handlebars, smiling at the invisible world. It was a strange feeling, being lost in a fog and filled with a sensation that can only be described as clarity.

.....

So Monday is my third "bloggiversary." That's right. I've been blogging at this site for three full years. It's funny to think back to my reason for starting this site - as a way to convince my friends and family back home that my new life in Alaska was great and they should join me. Three years and 843 posts later, I still haven't convinced anyone I know to move to Alaska, but I have discovered a wide world of cyclists, Alaskans, adventurers, thinkers and dreamers, and I feel like I'm part of a virtual community. I was going to have a reader appreciation day to celebrate. But I'm not quite ready yet, so I think I'll postpone it until after the election. Everyone's probably so over-saturated in election stuff right now that they're not even reading blogs, so it's just as well.

There's an election going on? And here I thought that this blog was the only worthwhile thing coming from the USA. Thanks so much for the last 3 years Jill. I raise my coffee cup and offer a toast....Here's to another 3 and many more....

¡Happy bloggiversari, Jill! I stard also in 12th december of 2005, a month after you. ¡Such a coincidence! And, if you want to know, you have convinced me to visit Alaska some day... I find all this landscapes really really wonderfull.

Between the the snow, the rain, the ice, the winds, the freezing cold, the bad roads, the rough trails, the tourists, the mud, the rocks, the quicksand, the crashes, the knee injury, the training, the races, nearly falling off mountains, getting lost in the fog, the mechanical breakdowns, the mental breakdowns, the bicycle commuting, the bears, the Pepsi, and the Pop-Tarts, I'm surprised you made it this far.

Happy Bloggiversary! I know that even though you haven't convinced me to move there (especially Juneau... too much rain!), you HAVE convinced me that it is beautiful, and will forever be a part of you. You are an Alaskan (even though you grew up in Utah!)

Jill, congratulations! It takes dedication, commitment, imagination and creativty to keep a blog so fresh and so good after three years! Say, enlight, it occurs to me that it is possible to live a good life about anywhere in the U.S. if your attitude and inner life are in tune. We get so focused on being in the proper place...is that the thing? No, but it helps and keeps things interesting. Juneau would never be the mecca of mtn biking or even winter biking, but Jill's attitude and approach has made her excel at getting the most out of it. Believe me, by any account, Juneau is dreary....but there she is, out on the bike, up the mountain and catching the view on those clear days. Way to go, Jill.

Congratulations, and thanks for keeping me thoroughly entertained for almost three years. I can't say I was there for the inaugural post, but soon afterwards I followed a link from FatCyclist and once I found you, I read all the archives. Thanks for 3 yrs of really good writing, gorgeous photos, nailbiting adventures and some cool new music. In fact, I need some new tunes - what's on your iPOD these days?

Thanks Jill so much for your blog - I read it every day and it keeps me informed of what you and Geoff are up to. You haven't convinced me to move to Alaska, just like we haven't convinced the two of you to move into the lower 48 (preferably closer to the East Coast) - your adventures are awesome (sometimes very scary) and the pictures are great. Keep blogging and have fun no matter what you do from day to day. We love you

"...I still haven't convinced anyone I know to move to Alaska..."True.And why is it that everyone back in that place and time we remember as home thinks that Alaska Air only flies in a southerly direction?How do they think we get back up here?HunterKetchikan

I'm still reading blogs to escape all the politics. I'm ready for it to be over, already! I know it's important and believe me, I'm going to go out and vote, but with a two-year long prelude, enough is enough.

Thank you for sharing your life with us. And also for bringing the beauty and awesomeness of Alaska into our presence. I was fortunate to visit Homer for a couple of weeks last year. It is now a beautiful dream and reading your blog brings back the wonderful memories of your timeless land. I'm stuck in New Jersey now but my dream is someday to make that life-changing move to Alaska. Until then, I'll just keep on dreaming.

CONGRATULATIONS Jill! I found your blog about a year ago and been hooked ever since. Thanks for the beautiful photos and writing, I look forward most evenings to escape to Alaska from my suburbia home just south of Chicago. Keep up the GREAT work!

I live in Australia. The hottish part. My daughter, out of the blue, said to me the other day, Dad, can we go to Alaska for a holiday?I'm thinking, how to we get to Juneau? We're not going all the way to Alaska without visiting Jill. Just to shake your hand and tell you what your blog means to me.Thanks heaps for the last 3 years.Keep up the good work.C

Happpy Trinity Day! I'm awful glad you're still here blogging, as you continue to be one of my bicycle/blogging muses! I think of you as the REAL star of Alaska, not that wanna be vice-president. I'm so excited for you that you're planning on the Iditarod again.. I told everyone who would listen to go read your account of the last one. Thanks also for your work on the GDR... very cool! You keep writing, I'll keep reading!

Sitting here in a hotel room in D.C. about to head off to a party at the Hilton and a long night of "networking" that may involve dancing, but I still had to read your blog. Found myself sitting next to a couple of people from Anchorage at lunch yesterday so they know about your blog now too. Happy Blogaversery!

As a recent convert to blogs - and your in particular (but, before the Sarah craze!) - I've lived vicariously through your Alaskan adventures. Thank you for sharing those experiences. I look forward to being "on the trail" with you on your next run.

Last weekend I taught my 11 year old daughter to ride a bike, after years of her putting it off for fear of falling.

She dragged me out three more times in two days, she liked it so much.

One of those times, we went to her old elementary school, to ride around the deserted playground and parking lots. The playground has a large map of the USA painted on it. She stopped her bike on Alaska and said "Look! I'm riding with that girl you read about!"

You inspire a young girl, just starting to ride.

And an old man, so inspired that his daughter knows about your accomplishments.

Happy Anniversary - I'm glad you started, and I'm glad you are still at it.